A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced a man Friday to 31 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing another man 18 times at a Rancho Cordova light rail station in 2023.
Judge Michael Sweet sentenced Roderick Earl Sowells, 60, for the murder of David Marcus Jones, 29, of West Sacramento, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
A jury found Sowells guilty in May of second-degree murder with an enhancement for using a deadly weapon. Sowells also had a prior sexual assault conviction that counted as a strike under California’s “three strikes” law.
On Aug. 12, 2023, Jones and a friend were sitting on a bench at a Sacramento Regional Transit light rail station along Folsom Boulevard in Rancho Cordova.
Sowells got off the Gold Line train and approached the two men. A dispute between Sowells and Jones’ friend escalated, prompting the friend to throw a glass bottle at Sowells, prosecutors said.
The bottle hit Sowells in the head. He then pulled out a sharp object and challenged Jones’ friend to a fight, but the friend walked away, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Sowells turned on Jones, stabbing him 18 times. A witness found Jones wounded on the ground and called 911. Jones was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries several weeks later.
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Rosalio Ahumada writes breaking news stories related to crime and public safety for The Sacramento Bee. He speaks Spanish fluently and has worked as a news reporter in the Central Valley since 2004.